


Dead man walking

by BloodthirstyMerc



Series: The unspoken 'Pat' word series [10]
Category: DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Death, Gore, Halloween, Jaytim - Freeform, Lazarus Pit, League of Assassins - Freeform, M/M, Masturbation, Masturbation in Shower, Resurrected Jason Todd, Resurrection, Zombie!Jason, Zombies, i don't know what to tag, league of shadows, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 12:45:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16598165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodthirstyMerc/pseuds/BloodthirstyMerc
Summary: Zombie. That’s what Jason was. The first of many, Tim was very certain of that. Maybe one day he’d be one too.{October reward}





	Dead man walking

Tim stood at the edge of the pit, eyes wide as he watched the body in front of him thrashing around. Pained cries and groans echoed through the cave. Talia had her hand on his shoulder, and he’s not sure if it was to stop him from running or to try to keep him from trying to  _ help _ . He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Part of him felt a little sick. This wasn’t right, this was wrong on so many levels.

His name was Jason Todd, and he had been pronounced dead. Talia refused to tell him what had killed the boy. But he’d seen the body before they threw him into the pit and the wounds on his body would suggest a very painful and slow death. He’d suffered. And now he was suffering again as the Lazarus pit brought him back to life. He was the first, he wouldn’t be the last.

Tim swallows the bile rising in his throat as Jason finally stops thrashing, the exhaustion catching up to him as he slumped in the pit. He gasped and panted, choking on the air getting caught in his throat. Talia gave Tim’s shoulder a tight squeeze, drawing his attention to her. She was smiling down at the figure in the pit. She seemed pleased. Ra’s looked less than amused from his spot beside her.

“Your experiment has worked, now what do you plan to do?” He asks in a flat tone. His voice is the first noise in the cave beside Jason’s screaming. The boy turns his head and stares up at the three of them. Talia drops her hand from Tim’s shoulder.

“You don’t need to worry about him, Father. Timothy and I will look after him.” She states with a smug smile on her lips.

Tim hadn’t agreed to be apart of this. The last thing he wanted was to get caught up in whatever crazy plans she had for the boy she’d just resurrected. But he also knew that there wasn’t really much he could do. If he voiced his concerns, he could say goodbye to his position in the League. He could probably kiss his life goodbye too. Talia didn’t take kindly to people disagreeing with her. Jason was here for a reason, Tim had to remember that.

“Fetch some clothes for him.” Talia requests. Tim gives a small nod and steps back, thankful for the excuse to not keep staring at the confused boy in the pit. He hadn’t moved, which was unsettling. If Tim steps a little faster than he usually would, no one comments on it.

Tim collects up two different sets of robes, unsure on Jason’s size. He could only judge by sight and he hadn’t been that close when Jason was put into the pit. And with him half submerged, Tim hadn’t been able to scale him up properly. Tim doubts he’s any bigger than him, so he gets his size and a size smaller. When he returns, Jason’s stood at the side of the pit in front of Talia and Ra’s, shoulders hunched forward. He looks dazed and out of place. His body drips with the liquid from the pit and he makes no effort to cover up his naked form. Tim tries not to let his eyes wander. He cautiously steps up to Talia’s side again. Jason’s thin, which shouldn’t be surprising, but he looks to be about Tim’s height, it’s hard to tell. He looks up to Talia, unsure of how to continue.

“Jason.” She pronounces his name clearly and in a firm tone. Jason lifts his head and stares up at her. His eyes look glazed over, like a blind person’s and are a striking bright teal colour. Tim knows it’s due to the pit, there is no way that’s a natural eye colour. He looks disconnected from reality. Talia looks to Tim and Jason’s gaze follows hers. Tim straightens his shoulders, trying not to show that he’s nervous. Jason watches the action and copies it. Tim tries not to let out a surprised chuckle as Jason straightens his back and squares his shoulders.

“They’re very impressionable. He doesn’t remember anything specific about himself yet, but he should know simple skills. Tell him what he needs to do.” Talia explains. Tim swallows.

“So, you told him his name was Jason and he just accepted it?” Tim asks, raising an eyebrow. Jason seems to perk up at his name.

“No. They remember their names, it’s wired into their brains. He just has to relearn who he was.” Talia tells him. Tim wished she’d taken the time to explain all of this to him before he had the zombie standing before him.  _ Zombie _ . That’s what Jason was. The first of many, Tim was very certain of that. Maybe one day he’d be one too. Tim clears his throat again and offers Jason a kind smile. Jason’s lips twitch like he’s going to return the action, only it doesn’t happen.

“Jason put these on,” Tim states in the same firm tone Talia had used to get his attention. He holds out the larger robes. Jason drops his gaze to them and for a few seconds, he just stares at them.

He eventually lifts his hands slowly and takes the clothes from Tim, his fingers brushing the back of Tim’s hand. Tim tries not to flinch away from the cold touch. Ice cold, like a corpse. Which Jason is. His heart doesn’t beat, his lungs don’t work. It’s a miracle his brain even functions. Zombies gave science the biggest middle finger and Tim hated that. Jason unfolds the uniform and takes a moment to figure out what he has in his hands. Tim can’t help but watch as Jason puts the clothes on. They look a little too baggy on his slim frame, but Tim knows the smaller size would have been too tight around his shoulders. He still had some muscle build, but he had no  _ weight _ to him. Once he’s dressed he straightens up like when he’d copied Tim’s stance. Ra’s steps forward, catching Jason’s attention. He slowly walks around the zombie, looking him over and assessing him. Tim stands stock still, clutching the spare clothes in his hands tightly. Talia’s hand rests on his shoulder again.

“I’m going to ask again, what is your plan with him?” Ra’s asks, tone firmer and demanding. Jason looks somewhat uncomfortable with it. Tim wonders if the commanding tone of voice is triggering the want to follow orders that were infused into him.

“Timothy is going to train him. He’s going to become a soldier. If he can learn to fight, he will become the first immortal member of the League. We won’t have to ever lose our best members if we can use the pit to bring them back if they fall in battle. We’ll have an undead army, stronger, better, easier to command.” Talia lists off like she’s proud. Tim’s skin crawls with the idea. So that was the plan, that meant one day he too would be a zombie. Tim tries to gauge Ra’s reaction. He seems to ponder on it for a while. Talia keeps her stance straight and proper like she’s so sure of herself. A smile falls over Ra’s lips.

“If Jason is a success, you have my permission to continue working on this.” Ra’s gives a small nod of his head. Talia drops her hand from Tim’s shoulder again and folds her hands in front of her.

“Thank you.” She turns to face Tim fully. “Jason is under your command, if you need anything, do not hesitate to come to me. Treat him as any other recruiting member. He should prove to be easy to work with. Their natural instinct leads them to follow orders easily.” Talia offers before she gestures to Jason. “He will be sharing your room for the time being. They don’t need sleep, but they are able to basically shut down during the night if told to. Show him around.”

With that, Talia takes the spare clothes from Tim and takes her leave with Ra’s. Tim watches them leave, feeling somewhat uncomfortable now that he was left alone with a zombie. When he turns back to Jason, his shoulders arm hunched again and he’s staring off into nothing.

“Jason,” Tim starts. Jason makes a low noise.

“You don’t have to do that,” Jason speaks. Tim goes tense at his voice. It’s not that he hadn’t expected Jason to be able to talk, he just hadn’t expected it to come from anywhere. He’d thought he’d have to prompt Jason to speak. Tim’s left unsure what to say now. Jason  _ scoffs _ . “I’m not a robot.” He states with an eye-roll. Tim feels like screaming.

“I just… Talia made it sound like you’d be… y’know.” Tim makes a vague hand gesture.

“Stupid?” Jason offers with a knowing smirk on his pale lips. Tim’s not sure how he feels with Jason having a personality.

“Well… no. Just not… I thought you’d have to learn how to have an attitude or something.”

“You think I have an attitude?” Jason raises an eyebrow. Tim’s not sure how to respond. Jason scoffs again. “Yes, I’m impressionable. As soon as she told me to do things I found I was doing them without questioning it. But I’m not emotionless.”

“Do you even know anything about what you are? Or… who you are?” Tim asks, more because he’s worried Jason’s more human than zombie. To be fair, he doesn’t  _ look _ that bad. His skin is pale and he looks sickly, he looks pretty undead. But he doesn’t look like a rotting corpse like you’d assume a zombie would look like.

“I remember dying. I don’t know anything else.” Jason offers. Tim sucks his bottom lip into his mouth.

“Dying must suck,” Tim mumbles lowly. Jason shrugs.

“It doesn’t hurt. I was in a lot of pain before I died, I remember feeling the pain stop. Then nothing. Like falling asleep. Then suddenly I was awake in the pit and I felt like I was drowning or choking on my own tongue.” Jason mentions, sounding somewhat sullen.

“I’m sorry,” Tim says in a small voice. Jason shrugs.

“Aren’t you meant to be bossing me around?” He asks with a smug smile. Tim stares at Jason for a long time before he gives a small nod.

“I guess. Follow me zombie boy.” Tim mumbles, making a hand gesture. Jason falls into step beside him, his shoulders hunching again like he’s falling back into character. Tim decides not to question it.

\- - -

Tim takes it upon himself to research Jason as best as he can. It’s a little weird with Jason hovering around in his room, but he ignores his weighted presence. Jason Peter Todd died nearly three years ago. He was beaten to death by an unnamed person. No one has been charged for his death. No family, no friends and no home address. Jason had been a street rat. There’s nothing he could possibly find on him. Only a DNA test was able to tell police who he was. No wonder Talia had chosen him. There was no one who would recognise him because no one knew who the kid was anyway. Tim’s chest feels heavy at the knowledge that no one out there cared about Jason. He was sixteen when he was killed.

Tim lifts his gaze and looks over to Jason. The zombie was sat in the corner of the room, playing with his own hand like he couldn’t believe that he was alive and was looking at his own hand. Tim shuffles closer to the edge of his bed and clears his throat. Jason looks over to him.

“I’m guessing you didn’t find anything good,” Jason asks. Tim frowns and rests his elbows on his knees and folds his hands together.

“What makes you say that?” Tim asks.

“Just a hunch.” Jason shrugs.

“You’re a hunch.” Tim huffs, rolling his eyes. Jason scoffs. He’s been doing that all day. Only around Tim though. He’s been playing the stock-still robot role very well around everyone else. Tim wants to ask, but he’ll give it some time first. “You had no family, parents both dead and by the looks of it, you lived on the streets. A DNA test was how they found out who you were because no one could identify you.”

“Could have been worse. What killed me?” Jason asks.

“You were beaten to death. They never caught your killer.” Tim chews his bottom lip, swallowing thickly. Jason hums.

“So that’s why it hurt. Probably for the best.” Jason responds, seeming unfazed. Tim stares at him for a long time before he gets out of bed and walks over to him. He sits down next to the zombie.

“You were sixteen.” Tim mumbles. Jason looks down at his body.

“Sounds about right. How long have I been dead?” Jason cocks his head to the side. Tim tries not to stare at his face. He really did look young, far too young to be a zombie sat next to him. Tim swallows and takes in the look of his eyes. They were probably the prettiest colour Tim has seen.

“Almost three years. You were killed on the twelfth of August according to the autopsy.” Tim mumbles.

“Look like the most anyone knows about me is my death.” Jason chuckles, but it sounds wrong. Tim’s chest hurts. “How old are you?”

“I turned twenty-two last month.” Tim offers. Jason looks away, his eyes narrowing and his lips pursing as he thinks about it.

“Three years huh.” Jason looks back to Tim, dragging his eyes over Tim’s form. He snorts. “You don’t look like you’re twenty-two.”

“Jealous?” Tim asks with a sideways smirk.

“A little.” Jason shrugs. It takes Tim’s brain a moment to realise that a zombie is flirting with him. He swallows thickly and looks away, feeling heat crawl over his cheeks. He pushes himself up from the floor, clearing his throat.

“We should get food.”

“Shouldn’t I be eating your brains?” Jason asks in a teasing tone. Tim tries to ignore it and doesn’t look back at Jason.

“You haven’t yet.” Tim points out. He hears Jason groan softly as he pushes himself up to his feet.

“Yet.” Jason hums. Tim turns to glare at him.

“Jason, follow me.” He orders in that firm tone. Jason returns his glare, but he instantly falls into step behind Tim as the older leads him from the room. Tim smirks smugly to himself. If Jason was going to be like that, Tim was going to abuse his power. Knowing that Jason was basically unable to refuse his command might come in handy.

They walk in silence down to the dining hall. Talia meets him at the door like she’d been expecting him. Jason straightens up his shoulders again and lifts his gaze like a soldier would. Tim sort of hates the change in him whenever it’s not just them. He obviously felt comfortable around Tim. Tim isn’t sure why, but he was going to find out.

“How has he been?” Talia asks as he steps up to Jason and looks him over. She presses her fingers to Jason’s neck and slowly drags her nails over his cold skin. Jason doesn’t even flinch or avert his gaze.

“Good, I guess.” Tim shrugs.

“What do you mean?” She queries as she stops in front of him. She side-eyes Jason like she thinks he’s going to act up in front of her.

“He’s… already got a bit of a personality.” Tim offers. Jason’s shoulders tense up a little.

“Incredible.” She turns to face Jason and folds her hands behind her back. “His body hasn’t rejected the regeneration. If he’s getting back a personality than we probably don’t have to worry about him starting to decompose.”

“T-that could happen?” Tim asks, turning to look at Jason. He stares back to Tim for a long moment before he lifts his eyes to Talia.

“Did you tell him anything?” Jason asks. He hasn’t spoken to Talia without her prompting answers from him all day. She doesn’t look perplexed by him speaking up though. Tim keeps his gaze on Jason.

“Tim wasn’t meant to be your caretaker.” Talia offers. “You’re advancing a lot faster than I anticipated. I planned on talking to Tim tomorrow about what we expect to happen to you and how things should progress.”

“I’m guessing you expected progress to be a lot slower,” Tim says. Jason averts his gaze to Tim again, catching his stare. Tim doesn’t let the dead gaze of Jason’s eyes deter him.

“Indeed. After dinner, come to the lab. Bring Jason.” She turns on her toes and heads off, gesturing for one of the lab workers to follow her, disturbing him from his meal. He doesn’t show any signs of annoyance, though Tim knows he’s gritting his teeth.

Tim lets out a slow sigh and turns back to Jason, trying to offering him a reassuring smile. “So, um food then I guess.”

“Yeah, otherwise I might eat your brains out.” Jason jokes. Tim rolls his eyes and leads Jason over to the table.

\- - -

“The regeneration was meant to bring him back more as what you’d think a zombie would be like. Sluggish and without a grasp of the world around them. Obviously, we made sure that he wouldn’t need to be feeding off flesh. We thought it’d take a least a week, at most a month before he’d be able to perform proper motor skills without being told what to do. We thought a personality would start to form around the same time. Going by the fact that somehow he’s already gained these qualities, I’d say it’s safe to start training him, teaching him in the way of the league already.” Talia looks over at Jason throughout the whole speech, looking him up and down like she’s awed by him. Tim pieces it all together in his mind. Jason has taken a day to progress, and he wasn’t sure he was as happy about it as Talia was.

“Shouldn’t we wait? What if he spirals?” He asks, more concerned for Jason himself than the rest of them. Jason wasn’t just a monster, a creature they’ve cruelly played God with. He was still a person, he already was becoming more human than zombie and Tim didn’t want to treat him like an object.

“If he was going to spiral, he would have already. Once they start evolving the chances of a decrease in intelligence and the rate of decay falls.”

“But there’s still a chance.” He adds in. Talia finally turns her gaze. She straightens her shoulders and stares him down. He instantly shrinks back into himself.

“You will start training him tomorrow, that’s an order.” She states before she gestures to the doors of the laboratory. “You’re dismissed.”

Tim holds back a sigh and gives a small nod. “Yes, Mistress.” He turns on his toes and gestures for Jason to follow him.

“Timothy,” She calls back and Tim is quick to turn and look back at her. “Step out of line again and you will be punished.”

Tim swallows thickly. “Understood. It won’t happen again.”

“I won’t be the one who’s sorry if it does.” She states before she turns her attention back to the lab technician that she’d pulled away from dinner and starts conversing with him. Tim leads Jason from the lab, letting out a heavy breath as he runs his hand through his hair once they’re out of sight. He can feel Jason stare on him but chooses to ignore it.

“She means serious business, doesn’t she?”

“She’s also fond of cutting corners. You’re not the first person she’s tried to resurrect, you’re just the first to have made it this far. But with your accelerated rate of intelligence, anything could go wrong. She will ignore it until it becomes a problem and she won’t hesitate to kill you all over again and start new with another person.” Tim explains, keeping his voice low so he doesn’t risk being overheard.

“And for some reason, you care about me,” Jason mentions. Tim lifts his gaze and looks to Jason, stopping in his tracks. Jason stares back at him, his stare so cold and lifeless it makes Tim physically shiver.

“You were brutally murdered only to be brought back to life just to be Talia’s little experiment. If you survive, you’ll just be another soldier. I’m here because I chose to be, you’re here because she wants a completely compliant army that will follow her every command. I care because you’re still a person Jason, at least in my eyes.” Tim mumbles, chewing the inside of his lip.

“But if we grow personalities we won’t be mindless soldiers.” Jason states. Tim stares up at him for a moment, mouth falling open to respond only for him to fall short. Jason raises an eyebrow.

“You’d just be like the rest of us, except you would be harder to kill… There’s something else going on. She has other plans for you.” Tim realises, mumbling under his breath. Jason stares at him like he’s expecting him to figure it out on the spot. Tim chews his bottom lip and gestures for Jason to follow him again. “We’re gonna figure out what she’s up too.”

“Is that really a smart idea? Like I was murdered without reason and it fucking sucked. I don’t want you getting yourself killed just because of me.” Jason mumbles as he keeps step with Tim. Tim shakes his head.

“It’s worth it if it means I can keep you from whatever cruel shit she has planned for you.” Tim states. He notices the way Jason swallows thickly and stares a little more intently at him. Tim ignores it.

\- - -

Tim decides to take Jason out from the normal training area and out into the forest the next day. Despite Jason not needing to sleep, he’d laid out on the small bed that Tim had dragged into his room all night, unmoving like he was dead. The idea had given Tim chills. He only knows because he kept waking up throughout the night, unable to rest easy with the knowledge that Talia most likely had something cruel planned for Jason.

“Is Talia gonna be okay with you training me out here?” Jason asks as he follows closely behind Tim, walking along a very narrow path.

“I got permission, I’m not that crazy,” Tim states with a small chuckle. Jason hums, looking around the tall trees around them.

“I spent most of my life trapped in the walls of Gotham. It’s kinda sad it took me dying to be able to experience something so beautiful.” Jason notes. Tim looks over his shoulder to the zombie and offers him a soft smile.

“Why do you think I brought you out here? It’s nicer, you don’t have to worry about all the other league members staring at you, afraid you’re gonna be their replacement. It’s easier to breathe and, I’ve found that training with nature is better for you mentally.” Tim offers, holding his hands out like he’s showing the forest off.

“Hippy.” Jason mumbles. Tim smiles wider and chuckles.

“Compliment accepted.” Tim turns fully to face Jason again, resting his hands on his hips and stopping the zombie on the path.

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

“I know. Now, supposedly you’re meant to be faster and stronger than us mere mortals and with higher stamina.” Tim turns and points up over to the side of the hill they were approaching. “This is how it works, there are multiple tree stumps lining the edge of this hill, all painted with the League's logo. They’re markers to keep you on track up the hill to the edge of the forest. There, you’ll find multiple rocks lining the rest of the path to the edge of the mountain just a few miles out. The path up the side of the mountain is narrow and honestly stupidly dangerous.

“Once you reach the halfway point the track will disappear, there’s marked rocks to lead you back down to the river, from there, the path to the top of the back of the mountain is pretty obvious. Once you reach the top, it’s a pretty clear and easy run about down to this spot, there’s still marked rocks and trees on your way to make sure you do find your way back though. The fastest anyone has ever completed this route at a steady pace was forty-eight minutes, twenty-one seconds. Most people take about an hour and ten minutes to complete it. Usually, elite members are the ones to train out here, but since you’re basically  _ meant _ to be that level…”

“You’re insane, this is day  _ one. _ ” Jason stares at him with his mouth hanging agape like he can’t even comprehend what Tim was asking of him.

“That’s why I’m not going to make you run it,” Tim smirks. Jason lets out a sigh and glares up at him.

“You’re an asshole.”

“I know. We’re gonna walk it, which will probably take us just over two hours to reach the top, then we’ll take a rest before we come back down and head back, probably just in time for lunch.” Tim offers Jason a shit-eating grin.

“What’s walking it gonna do?”

“Get you familiar with the path. I walked it a total of eighty consecutive days before I tried running it. I took fifty-nine minutes and forty-seven seconds to complete it on my first run. Talia was impressed. I usually take around sixty minutes to run it now, been struggling to get any faster at it. I burn out on the way up and lose pace on the way back down, slowing me down too much.” Tim mentions. Jason looks him up and down for a moment.

“I wanna see you run it.” He states.

“Maybe tomorrow. But for now, onward.” Tim gestures again toward the side of the hill before he leads the way along the well-worn path. Jason keeps in step behind him. “Another great thing about being out here is that we can talk about the situation at hand without risk of someone overhearing us.”

Jason makes a small humming noise. “Have you figured anything out?”

“Well since I couldn’t sleep well last night, I got thinking about what she’d said.”

“Yeah, I saw you were restless, didn’t really know what to do to help. It wasn’t because I was around right? Because I could always leave the room and let you rest.” Jason offers. A small and slightly fond smile forms on Tim’s lips. He gives a shake of his head.

“No, it wasn’t you. Well like, it involved you, but like I was overthinking what’s gonna happen to you.” Tim states.

“You’re worried?” Jason asks with another smug smirk forming on his lips. Tim huffs out a sigh and shakes his head, refusing the urge to look over his shoulder at Jason.

“Of course I am. Like I said, I don’t want Talia to put you through any more shit.” Tim admits. Jason hums again. Tim chews his bottom lip slightly before he clears his throat. “So, we know that she wants a mindless army, but she’s either excited about you gaining a personality or she’s faking. But I doubt she’d keep you around if she thought you were a waste. She would have already killed you if you’d been a ‘failure’ which means she does want you to gain a personality.”

“Which doesn’t fit into her whole zombie army,” Jason adds in. Tim nods.

“Exactly, so why does she want you to have a personality? If you’re more human and less zombie, you’re just like the rest of us which is pointless. She doesn’t want new recruits, she wants to be able to keep the people she has in the league forever. But she’s made it clear she doesn’t like people being able to question her orders.” Tim sighs, running his hands over his face. He was chasing his own tail with his questions and statements. He had no idea what Talia’s endgame was.

“Maybe… maybe it’s a given that we’ll get our personalities back and she knows that, but the fact I’ve gotten it back sooner means she can start working on how to get rid of it?” Jason offers.

“But how do you get rid of a person’s personality?” Tim mumbles lowly. “It’s not like she can just cut out part of your brain and throw it away.”

“I mean… she kind of can.” Jason reminds him. Tim pauses and looks back at Jason, looking him over.

“Or, she’ll break you, destroy your mind until you’re nothing but a husk… a true zombie.” Tim mumbles lowly. Jason stares back at him.

“She seems like the kind of person who would do that.” Jason offers with a shrug.

“You’re not a person to her, you’re an object, which is why she got angry with me for wanting to wait. She doesn’t want to waste time. If you’re gonna be a defect, she wants to know as soon as possible so she can get rid of you.” Tim realises.

“So she’s either going to break me until I’m useless before she kills me, or she’s going to destroy me and make me into the perfect soldier she wants,” Jason concludes. Tim’s gut twists and he balls his hands into tight fists.

“Not if I have anything to do with it.” He practically snarls. He doesn’t notice the way Jason swallows thickly and stares up at him with his lip between his teeth.

\- - -

Surprisingly, Talia doesn’t get involved with Tim training Jason, which confuses him out of his mind. He’d had expected that Talia would have told Tim to push him, to work him until he broke, or that she herself would get involved and take over. It rules out one of the options, but the other is still on the table. Though she doesn’t seem to be wanting to play around in Jason’s brain. She genuinely seems pleased with his quick progress. Tim isn’t sure how to react to that. He just keeps training Jason as he had planned.

It takes a week of walking the track through the mountains before Jason says he wants to try running it. Tim offers to run it with. Jason finds the pace easy enough, he keeps with step behind Tim almost too easily but doesn’t make an attempt to pass him and see how fast he can actually run it, not yet anyway.

Tim stops at the base of the hill, the starting point of the run, hunching over slightly as he tries to regain a moderate breathing pattern. Jason stands beside him, barely winded, which makes sense since he’s pretty sure his lungs don’t actually function properly. Tim lifts his gaze, staring up at Jason as he sucks in oxygen.

“That was a breeze for you, wasn’t it?” Tim asks as he checks how long it took them to run it. Just under an hour. He sighs and looks back up to Jason, who’s smirking at him.

“Tomorrow, I’ll show you how easy that is for me.” Jason offers, crossing his arms over his chest. Tim rolls his eyes and punches Jason’s side.

“You can carry me back then.”

“If you’re being serious, I will.” Jason offers with a light shrug. Tim swallows thickly and shakes his head.

“No, um, it’s fine.” He stands up straight again and turns to start heading back, ignoring the thoughts rolling around in his head. Jason was a  _ zombie _ and something his brain forgot that completely. Jason snorts and follows after him like he has every day for the past week.

“Are you sure? You seem pretty exhausted.” Jason teases. Tim nudges his side again, fighting off his smile.

“What’s the point of working up my stamina if I’m only going to let you ruin it for me?” He asks. Jason shrugs.

“You’ve been working hard, you deserve a break.” Jason offers. Tim shakes his head again.

“Like I said, I’m good.”

They walk back in comfortable silence, though Tim’s mind does race slightly. He hated how easy it was to be around Jason like they’d known each other forever, like Jason wasn’t Talia’s undead test subject. Tim hated that he found the zombie attractive and funny, that he was definitely starting to  _ like _ Jason. Because nothing could change the fact that Jason was dead, nothing could change the fact that Jason was meant to be a mindless soldier. Just like nothing could change the fact that Tim had acquired a crush on Jason.

As soon as they get back to the main area of the League quarters, Talia is standing out the front, waiting for them. Tim feels his stomach flop as nervousness claws at his bones. She hadn’t waited for them to return before, usually, she’d just get a progress report whenever she happened to run into them. Tim squares his shoulders and tries not to look fazed by her presence as he stops in front of her. Jason copies his stance as he always did.

“How’d he do?” She asks, her eyes on Jason but the question directed to Tim, like always.

“He kept pace with me, easily. Tomorrow I have no doubt he’ll complete the track faster than any of us could.” Tim admits. Jason shrugs and averts his eyes to Tim.

“You don’t  _ know _ that.” Jason offers with a smirk. Tim looks back at him and rolls his eyes.

“Don’t be modest, it’s not a good look on you,” Tim states, fighting back a grin. Talia hums and steps up to Jason. She trails her fingers down his arm as she circles him, like a predator. Jason doesn’t move and Tim feels the nervousness in his chest start clawing up into his throat, making it hard for him to keep his breathing even.

“I suspect you’d want to shower after that workout,” Talia states, her gaze flicking over to Tim for a second before her eyes go back to Jason.

“Yeah, that’d be good.” Tim states. Talia hums and nods her head.

“Off you go, Jason will you come with me to the lab for a moment. We need to do some tests.” She turns on her toes and starts walking off. Jason’s shoulders tense and Tim’s throat feels like it closes up. And before he can think about what he’s doing he’s opening his mouth.

“Should I not join?” Tim asks. Jason elbows his side suddenly, pulling a startled noise from Tim. He looks up at Jason with a confused frown. The zombie doesn’t look pleased with him for the question and Tim can’t figure out why. He looks back up to Talia who is looking back at them with an unamused expression.

“There’s no need for you to. It’s a routine check, nothing special that requires your attendance.” Talia states in a flat tone. She turns again, gesturing for Jason to follow her. Jason lets out a small sigh.

“Don’t do that again,” Jason mumbles to Tim.

“What?”

“I’m not letting you get yourself in shit for me.” Jason snarls before he pulls away from Tim and follows after Talia before she can think that he’s not going to follow her order.

Tim stares, watching as Jason walks off, feeling somewhat uncomfortable but also unsure how he feels about Jason getting defensive. He decides it’s better not to think about it in the middle of a walkway and quickly turns to head off for a shower because that sounded like an amazing idea at that moment.

He’s unable to stop thinking about Jason the whole time as he gets a fresh set of clothes and heads for the showers. What’s worse, is that the thoughts of Jason don’t go anywhere once he’s under the spray of hot water. His worry and fears of what Talia is going to do to Jason seep away as the water scorches into his skin. Instead, he thinks about pale skin, lifeless yet beautifully coloured eyes, the cold yet somehow calming touch of Jason’s fingers on his skin. He groans and hits his head against the shower wall, opening his eyes to try and stop the images flashing behind his closed eyelids. Only they don’t go anywhere. All he can think about is Jason, and before he can stop himself, he’s running his hand down his body and gripping the base of his semi-hard cock.

Tim sighs softly and lets his eyes fall closed again. He tries to think about Jason before he died, what it must have been like to see his eyes full of life, to feel the warmth of his touch. Except he finds it’s not as appealing as the walking corpse Jason is now. There’s something so beautiful thinking about how sickly pale he is, with dark rings around his eyes that will never fade, the fact that Jason had little to no muscle build, that fact that he could never obtain any.

Tim’s fully hard before he even realises it. He pants softly as he strokes his cock hard and fast. He thinks about what it would be like to kiss Jason’s pale lips, what it would be like to leave warmth on Jason’s ice-cold body, knowing that it’s from him and no one else. He thinks about what it would feel like to have Jason’s arms wrapped around him, their legs tangled together as warm skin and cold flesh become one-

Tim comes before he even realises he’s close, whimpering softly to himself as he strokes his cock through it. The realisation of what had happened comes crashing down on him before he’s even come down from his high properly. He groans and bangs his forehead against the shower wall again as he feels the shame wash over him.

He was so fucked.

\- - -

“Hey, I was looking everywhere for you.” Jason suddenly speaks up from Tim’s doorway. He jumps a little, turning to face the zombie as he tries to calm the racing of his heart.

“Sorry, I uh… I thought I’d just y’know… relax a bit.” Tim mumbles as he closes the book he’d been skimming through and slides it to the side. Jason steps over to him and tilts his head as he gets a look at the cover of the book.

“You’re reading about zombies?” Jason asks with a light chuckle. “What, one zombie in your life not good enough for you Drake?” He teases as he sits himself down on the edge of Tim’s bed.

“You can never know too much about something.” Tim shrugs. “Judging by the fact you look okay, I’m guessing Talia wasn’t lying about the checkup being a simple and normal one?”

“Yeah, it seemed pretty normal. They poked around a bit, recorded what they needed. Stating that a lot of things were ‘normal’ so I’m guessing nothing’s going wrong yet.” Jason offers. Tim nods.

“I’m still sceptical,” Tim mumbles, chewing his bottom lip as he pays with the corner of his book.

“Honestly Tim… I don’t think there’s anything going on.” Jason shrugs. Tim swallows and lifts his gaze.

“I don’t want to… maybe there isn’t, maybe she does want you to have a personality and is pleased with your progress, but I don’t want to ignore it and risk something happening to you.” Tim admits, his chest feeling tight. Jason snorts and shakes his head.

“You know I’m dead right? Whatever happens to me doesn’t matter.”

“That’s not true. She brought you back to life and… I don’t want her to abuse you. You went through hell when you were alive, the least I can do is make sure you’re not forced to suffer now.” Tim states, dropping his gaze to the floor. Jason watches him for a long moment in silence, considering him.

“You really care huh?” Jason asks, sounding unsure. Tim nods and closes his eyes.

“No one cared about you, they had no idea who you were when they found you dead and that… I hate that so much. You deserved better, you  _ do _ deserve better and now you’ve got this second chance at life and it goes against everything, but you have it and you’re being forced to be her fucking toy. I hate it so much. You’re still you, you’re still Jason Todd and you should be able to live the life you never had.” Tim mumbles. “I care, not because no one else does or because someone should, but because you’re still you.”

“You never knew me before I died,” Jason states in a low voice. Tim shakes his head.

“But I know you now, and I want to continue to get to know you. I want to know who Jason Todd is.”

“I don’t even know who I am,” Jason mumbles, dropping his gaze to the floor too. Tim looks to him through the corner of his eye and bites his lip.

“You can find yourself again, or y’know… start over. I want you to have that choice. I don’t want Talia to take that from you.” Tim states. Jason is silent for a long moment again, Tim gives him the time he needs. He lifts his gaze again eventually and turns to face Tim fully, leaning into him. Tim swallows thickly, trying to keep his breathing steady.

“Please tell me I’m not reading into this wrong because I might just do something stupid if I am.” Jason’s voice is barely a whisper. Tim licks his lips and drops his gaze to Jason’s own pale lips.

“I… I like you… that’s why I care.” Tim whispers. Jason chews his bottom lip.

“You know I’m dead right? Like super dead.” Jason reminds him with a light chuckle.

“Yeah… I think that’s part of the attraction.” Tim admits. Jason smirks and starts leaning in further. Tim lifts a hand to grip the front of Jason’s shirt lightly. “Just, don’t bite me.”

“Despite how appealing I’ve found you from the start, I’ve never thought about eating you, not like that anyway,” Jason admits. Tim can’t help the low moan he gives before he leans in the rest of the way and presses his lips to Jason’s own.

They’re as ice cold as the rest of Jason’s skin, and the feeling makes Tim shiver. He can’t help but attempt to deepen the kiss, turning his head slightly as he swipes his tongue over Jason’s bottom lip. Jason makes a weird noise and pulls back suddenly, eyes squeezed shut. Tim stares back at him, unsure what he’d done wrong.

“What is it?” He asks, feeling nervous. Jason shakes his head slightly.

“Okay I know what I just said but I’ve never been… y’know that close to a person like that and… I can smell you.” Jason shakes his head again and turns away, digging his nails into his own skin. Tim swallows thickly and pulls back more.

“W-wait you mean like… you’re not meant to want to eat flesh.” Tim mumbles, unsure if that’s what Jason was getting at.

“You smell so fucking good Tim.” Jason moans softly and Tim would find the noise arousing if he wasn’t genuinely scared of Jason right now. He swallows nervously and plays with his own hands and moves away from Jason a little more. He’s not sure what to say. Jason suddenly stands up and moves across the room, muttering under his breath, things Tim can’t understand.

“Jay… it’s okay.” Tim offers in a low voice. Jason growls, causing Tim’s muscles to go ridged with slight fear.

“Because it’s fine that I wanted to fucking bite into you. Because it’s fine that I fucked this up.” Jason grits his teeth, Tim can hear them grinding together.

“Did they inject you with anything while they were doing your checkup?” Tim asks instead of trying to talk Jason down. Jason shakes his head, clearly frustrated. Tim chews his bottom lip and thinks it over.

“Did they give you any pills or liquid? Did they swab anything in your mouth? Did they take any blood tests or something like that?” Tim asks, frantically trying to figure out what had happened. Jason’s been close to him before, sure not pressed together like that, but they’ve been in each other’s personal space over the week and Jason’s never reacted like that. Jason starts to shake his head, only to stop and lift his head, turning back to face Tim.

“They did offer me some water, but that’s about it,” Jason states with a slight shrug.

“Did you drink it? Was it in a disposable cup?” Tim asks, pushing himself up from his bed.

“Yeah.” Jason nods slowly. Tim bites his bottom lip.

“They could have put something in it so you didn’t know you were ingesting it, if the cup is still down there and hasn’t been thrown out, I might be able to test it for any molecules that might have been left behind,” Tim states as he steps up to Jason. The zombie recoils slightly like he doesn’t want Tim anywhere near him.

“What if they didn’t Tim, what if this is just a side effect? Talia hasn’t cleared me completely yet and although the chances of deterioration have lowered, they’re not completely gone.” Jason states. Tim shakes his head.

“No, you’ve been fine and then suddenly this? Something’s wrong and I’m going to find out, with or without you.” Tim mutters. Jason swallows thickly and drops his gaze.

“Do you really want to be around me right now?” He asks. If Tim’s completely honest, he’s scared of Jason. The idea that maybe he won’t be able to refrain from attacking him is terrifying, but he’s willing to risk his life if it means helping Jason.

“If you don’t want to come, don’t,” Tim states as he takes a step back toward the door. Jason stares at him for a long time in silence. Tim turns and walks out, the longer he waits around, the more likely that he won’t be able to get hold of that cup. The sound of Jason’s hurried steps following him pulls a smile onto his lips. He looks over his shoulder back at the zombie and allows his smile to soften. “This doesn’t change anything Jason.” He states.

Jason chews his bottom lip but nods.

Tim knows that snooping around in the lab would get him in more trouble than he could imagine if they were caught. Getting in unnoticed is easy but making sure no one else comes in and catches them is the hard bit. Jason listens out for any noise of someone approaching, his heightened senses making it easier. Tim finds the cup, still in one of the trash cans and takes it out with caution, not sure what else is in the bin.

“Okay, the easy part is over, now to run some tests without getting caught.” Tim scoffs.

“Wait,” Jason speaks up suddenly. Tim turns to him, eyes wide because if someone’s coming, they’re going to get caught. “We’ll come back tonight, don’t risk it, Tim.”

Tim considers the suggestion before he nods. “Good thinking.”

Tim chucks another cup into the bed, just to be sure as he smuggles the other into his pocket. He stashes it in his room when they get back, feeling extremely nervous. Jason offers him a reassuring smile.

“Relax, no one caught us.” Jason offers. Tim nods.

“I know,” He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. He chews his bottom lip and steps up to Jason. The zombie looks like he wants to back away but manages to keep himself still. “Can we try that again?”

“You’re really fucking ballsy.” Jason chuckles nervously. Tim shrugs.

“I trust you.” He admits, and Jason laughs more.

“Maybe you’re just stupid then.”

“Maybe.” Tim hums as he rests his hands against Jason’s chest. Jason swallows thickly and licks his lips.

“If I eat you, it’s your own fault.” Jason breathes out, voice low.

“I’ll take that risk,” Tim says as he presses himself further into Jason. The zombie’s arms come around his hips as he leans in and they kiss again. The whole time Tim’s internally panicking while Jason’s fighting off the urge to bite. It’s still good either way.

\- - -

It’s one forty-seven in the morning when they make their way down into the lab again. Tim’s at least ninety per cent sure they should be safe at this hour. Jason still keeps an ear out for anyone, just in case. Tim sets up to run some simple tests to find out what chemicals were in the cup. It doesn’t take long, the tests are run for about ten minutes before he has the results ready.

“See? I told you it was nothing.” Jason mumbles, giving a small shrug. Tim frowns at the results. Only water is present in the results. Tim shakes his head.

“No, I  _ know _ she did something.”

“Tim,” Jason steps up to the older and nudges his chin up with his hand so that Tim looks up at him. He holds Tim’s chin between his thumb and finger, rubbing his thumb into Tim’s skin. “She hasn’t done anything, the evidence is there.”

“No… something's wrong, you’re not meant to be deteriorating, you said all their tests were fine,” Tim states, desperately as he shakes his head. Jason sighs and steps closer to Tim, placing his hands on Tim’s arms.

“Maybe they missed something, maybe it was your scent and it’s altered something mentally. Tim, things like this happen when you experiment, you should know that.” Jason shrugs.

“I don’t  _ care _ . I won’t believe that she’s not doing something to you.”

“What are you gonna do if she is? It’s up to her, she technically has every right since I’m dead.”

“I’m not losing you.” Tim snaps, shrugging out of Jason’s hold. Jason stares at him as he turns away, looking over the test again like somehow between the last time he looked at it and now, the results would have changed.

“I’m a zombie Tim, you shouldn’t get attached to me.” Jason mumbles.

“I don’t care,” Tim mutters, sounding angry. Jason shakes his head and drops his gaze.

“I’ve only been around a week-”

“It doesn’t  _ matter _ .” Tim turns back to him and Jason’s surprised to see that his eyes are watery with tears. “Yes, you’re a zombie, but you’re fucking intelligent and you’ve grown a personality. You’re still a  _ person _ . And yes, I’ve grown attached to you and I don’t know why, but that’s how it is.”

“Yeah well, looks like I’m gonna deteriorate, that’s how it is.” Jason throws back. Tim stares at him for a long time. His lip quivers, he hates that it does. He turns away from Jason and bites his bottom lip and curses himself in his mind.

“I meant everything I said earlier. I care about you, Jason.” Tim mumbles. He hears Jason sigh.

“I know you did. I meant it too. You’re smart and funny and… fuck you’re cute but this is insane. I’m  _ dead _ .” Jason stresses the point.

“You keep saying that, but you’re as alive as me.” Tim looks back at him, swallowing back the lump forming in his throat, causing his nose to get stuffy.

“Fine, I’m  _ meant _ to be dead. Maybe it’ll be better off if I return to the grave.” Jason seethes. Tim stares at him for a long time, unsure how to react to that.

“Jay-”

“This is crazy. You shouldn’t be attracted to me.” Jason cuts in.

“You didn’t seem to have a problem with it earlier!” Tim defends. He’s not sure if he’s more upset with Jason or angry.

“My whole life I never had anyone care about me. Suddenly, I’m brought back from the dead and there’s this cute guy who’s doing everything he can for me. I’m gonna get attached.”

“I haven’t had the best people in my life either. Why do you think I’m here, training as an assassin?” Tim points out. Jason shakes his head and looks away from Tim again.

“Yeah, you must be real fucked up to be interested in the zombie form of a guy who no one cared about.” Jason seethes again. Tim closes his eyes as a pained laugh creeps up on him.

“So that’s just it? You might go full zombie and so suddenly the idea of us isn’t appealing anymore?” Tim asks in an aggressive tone.

“I’d rather die again than do something to hurt you,” Jason mutters. “So yes, it never would have worked anyway. Face it, the only reason you’re attracted to me is because I’m not the lumbering pile of flesh you’d thought I’d be when you were told you were gonna be babysitting a zombie.”

Tim wants to argue, but he doesn’t see the point. Jason’s mind was clearly made up. Tim scoffs again and turns away. “Whatever.”

He rips up the test results and throws them along with the cup into the bin before he leaves the lab, not caring if Jason follows or not. Somehow, sleeping without Jason’s presence in his room is the worst experience of his life.

\- - -

Tim’s surprised to find Jason hovering outside of his room the next morning. Jason takes one look at him and Tim knows he can tell he didn’t sleep well. Tim thinks about ignoring him, but words are forming in his mouth before he can stop himself.

“What’re you doing here?” Tim asks, a little annoyed. Jason rolls his eyes.

“You’re still my handler until Talia says otherwise,” Jason mutters. Tim sighs and runs his hands down his face as he groans softly.

“Whatever let’s go then.” He mumbles as he walks off. Jason follows after him silently. Tim takes in a steady breath and tries to calm his mind and nerves. Jason was just another member of the league under his training, he just had to treat him as so.

\- - -

The following few days are a little awkward between them. Part of Tim wants to continue looking into why Jason’s craving human flesh, but he refrains from doing so, out of fear of not only getting caught and finding himself in trouble but risking Jason getting in trouble too. They train as they normally would, and Jason even runs the trail by himself. In record time of course. When Tim tells Talia, the wide smile on her face leaves him feeling uneasy. There’s something sinister to it, but he refuses to let himself get caught up over it.

Jason stops ‘sleeping’ in Tim’s room. Tim acts like it doesn’t bother him, but they both know that it does. He’s not sure what Jason does during the night now, but he chooses not to ask. They don’t really talk beside going over the training routine, Tim instructing him how to move and fight. Besides that, if they’re together, they’re silent. Tim hates it, but he doesn’t know what to say and clearly, Jason has no interest in talking to him. Sometimes Tim will catch Jason glancing at him and he knows, in turn, Jason catches him staring sometimes. The unresolved tension between them eats away at Tim’s mind, but he refuses to let it get to him.

Tim stirs in his sleep, his eyes not opening but aware of the fact that he’s awake. He lets out a small groan and snuggles back into his pillow, trying to force his body back to sleep because he  _ knows _ it’s too early. There’s a soft moaning sound that catches Tim’s attention and his eyes shoot open. He stares at the wall in the darkness as the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Tim…” His name comes out almost slurred and Tim’s chest feels like it tightens when he realises that it’s Jason’s voice. He sits up and turns around, not really sure what he’s going to say to Jason when his whole body goes rigid. Even in the dark, he can see the blood coating Jason’s front, running down from his mouth and to his chest, his hands covered in it. Tim instantly pushes himself away from the zombie, pressing his back hard against the wall as he stares in shock at Jason.

“Help me,” Jason begs, stepping close to Tim’s bed. “I… I didn’t mean to, I couldn’t stop, Tim, please, help me please, I didn’t want to hurt them, I didn’t mean to… I… you were  _ right _ , please help me.”

Jason’s voice is still slurred and groggy, but he’s begging, literally whining and almost sobbing as he shakes in his spot. Tim’s eyes trail down Jason’s body, still unable to move due to the shock. He swallows thickly.

“What happened?” Tim demands, slowly adjusting his position so that if Jason tries to attack him, he’ll be able to vault over his back and make a run for it. Jason makes a distressed sound, looking miserable with himself.

“…I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry about it anymore… it’s gotten worse Tim. The last few days have been  _ agony. _ Talia… she told me to and I couldn’t stop myself.”

“What did you do Jason?” Tim asks, horrified of the answer he’s going to give. Jason drops his head forward.

“I attacked them… I… I infected them,” He lifts his hands and stares at the blood covering them. “They’re turning, but they’re different. They have no control, they’re mindless but as soon as she tells them to do something… they follow her order.”

“She wasn’t trying to turn you into a mindless zombie,” Tim mutters. Jason lifts his gaze again and Tim’s heart sinks at the sight of tears in his eyes. “You’re the catalyst, the host of her disease and he needed that craving to help her keep control of you. So, she poisoned you, made sure you’d deteriorate enough that you wouldn’t be able to resist the promise of flesh.”

“She told me to… she wanted me to get you, to turn you. I… I can’t.” Jason shakes his head and steps back. “She wants you to be like them, she wants me to hurt you.”

“How many have turned?” Tim asks as he carefully shuffles forward to the edge of his bed, keeping his movements slow. Jason shakes his head before shrugging.

“I… I don’t know. It was like… a blur, all I could think about was the taste, the smell…” Jason makes a low noise. Tim swallows and collects up his clothes, putting them on. He grabs his sword and puts on his shoes, keeping one eye on Jason.

“We have to get out of here,” Tim states, as he collects up his essential items and hastily chucks them into his bag.

“No.” Jason mumbles. Tim stares up at him with a confused stare.

“What?” He asks, dumbfounded and a little scared.

“You’re getting out of here, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Jason-” Tim tries.

“I can’t go with you. I’ll hurt you.” Jason says in distress. Tim shakes his head.

“If you were going to hurt me, you would have already.” Tim states. He steps up to Jason and the zombie instantly moves away from him, backing up. He runs into the wall and holds his hands out in front of him.

“Please don’t Tim.” Jason’s voice is weak and miserable. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

“I can’t risk hurting you, okay?” Jason bites his bottom lip and drops his gaze. “Please just go.”

“I’m not leaving without you, Jason.”

“Tim, please.”

“ _ No _ . Talia isn’t going to win this. You deserve better, I can help you Jason, please let me help you.” Tim pleads. Jason shakes his head more and looks away.

“She owns me, Tim. I have to follow her command.” Jason sighs. Tim stares up at Jason with sad eyes, trying to think of something to say. An idea clicks into his head.

“No… she doesn’t own you. You’ll follow anyone’s command, Jason.” Tim states. Jason stares at him and shakes his head.

“No, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it.”

“Jason, you’re coming with me,” Tim mutters, straightening up his shoulders. “That’s an order.”

Jason grits his teeth and turns his head away. His bloody hands ball into tight fists and he lets out a small growl. “This is a bad idea.”

“It was a bad idea from the start. But I don’t care. I like you, Jason, I care about you. I don’t care if you wanna eat my face off, I am not leaving without you.” Tim states, determined. Jason sighs and runs his hand through his hair, and Tim notices then that even his hair is coated in blood already. He swallows thickly and ignores the sudden realisation that the blood covering Jason belongs to members of the league. Members who are now zombies. He shakes the thought from his head.

“Fine.” Jason huffs. Tim nods and collects up his bag and draws his sword, sucking in a deep breath. He goes to step forward only for Jason to hold out his hand and stop him. “I’ll go first.” He offers.

Tim nods and follows Jason out of the room. They move quickly down the corridors, keeping at a steady jog as they head for the main courtyard and exit. Tim’s throat feels like it tightens more the closer they get to the doors. His fear was starting to choke him, the realisation that he’s slower than the zombies, that he’s not as strong as them and that he has no idea if decapitating them will even finish them off properly. He squashes the thoughts down, for now, he just had to make sure survived.

As soon as they’re rushing through the doors, Tim’s whole body freezes up with fear. Jason throws his arms out and keeps Tim behind him as they stare out over the courtyard filled with zombies.

“Oh, God…” Tim mumbles in disbelief. He notices the way Jason tenses up.

“I did this…” He mumbles. Tim swallows and shakes his head.

“It’s not your fault, you were just following orders.” Tim swallows thickly, staring back out at all the undead faces looking up at them. Jason was right, they were more zombie than human, completely the opposite of what Jason was. It was like the disease mutated when it was passed on and they completely zombified.

“Not entirely though.” Talia’s voice suddenly speaks up from among the crowd. Tim watches her with a lump formed in his throat as she easily walks past them to stand at the front of the horde. None of them even acknowledge her. They’re mindless, without orders they won’t even move, they’ll even ignore food beside them. It makes Tim feel sick to the stomach.

“Why did you do this?” Tim asks, trying to step forward. Jason makes a low noise and keeps Tim behind him. Tim wants to push past but he decides that it’s probably best that Jason stays between him and the horde. Talia folds her hands behind her back like she’s proud of herself and Tim knows that she is.

“A completely loyal army, who won’t question any of my orders and don’t require anything other than some flesh to survive. Why wouldn’t I want this Timothy?” She smirks.

“Sounds great, until they decide they want to feast on you.” Tim deadpans. Talia scoffs.

“They won’t, because they can’t think for themselves, we made sure they wouldn’t be able to.” She states as she saunters closer. Jason growls, like an animal and his hands ball into fists. Tim stares at him in slight shock. Talia laughs. “Oh Jason, don’t be stupid.”

“I won’t let you hurt him.” Jason hisses. She gives him a soft smile like he was precious before she shakes her head.

“I don’t plan to.” She states before she straightens her shoulders, showing her authority over the situation. “Jason, I want you to turn Tim.”

Jason’s shoulders tense and he lets out another low growl. Tim swallows thickly and watches as Jason starts twitching like something was messing with his muscles. Tim takes a small step back. Jason’s trying to fight the command, but the instinct that’s been genetically modified in his body is just that, instinct to follow commands.

“Jason, kill Tim.” Talia snarls. Jason turns to face Tim, growling low in his chest as he steps toward him. Tim swallows thickly and continues to back up.

“Jason, hey, don’t let her get in your head, you can fight it.” Jason lashes out and Tim’s barely able to dodge getting grabbed. But it forces him back more and suddenly he’s boxed in against the wall.

Tim curses and pulls a dagger from his belt and without a second to hesitate, stabs it into the side of Jason’s chest when he tries to lunge at him again. Jason recoils and Tim’s not entirely sure if he can feel pain, but he does make a low sound like maybe his brain is telling him he’s in pain.

“You said you didn’t want to hurt me. I know you don’t, Jason fight it.” Tim begs. Jason snarls at him before he grits his teeth hard enough his jaw cracks and turns his head away, his body reacting the same way it had earlier when he had tried to fight Tim’s command. Tim swallows thickly and realises that by telling Jason to fight against Talia instead of saying that he can, he’s countering Talia’s command. “Fight. It.”

Jason drops his head forward, making a low noise of pain. Tim’s chest feels tight. When Jason lifts his head again, his eyes are filled with regret and sadness. Tim swallows and goes to reach out, only for Jason to shake his head.

“Run,” Jason says before he turns to look back at Talia, straightening up and stepping back toward her. Tim sees the rage in her eyes before she looks back to the horde.

“Kill him!” She yells and instantly all of the zombies are rushing forward. For a horrifying moment, Tim’s frozen in place, like an animal trapped in headlights as he watches the league members rush forward, all making moaning noises like the creatures they are. Jason runs forward, colliding with one of the leading zombies and throwing him back into the mindless horde, throwing some of them off.

“ _ Run! _ ” Tim hears Jason practically scream. Tim snaps out of his trance and bolts, turning on his toes before he takes off running, as fast as he can. He doesn’t even think about where he’s going to go, or what he’s going to do, he just knows he has to  _ move _ .

His feet carrying him, the pounding of his own heart so loud in his ears that he can’t hear anything else. Tim runs, he runs, and he doesn’t look back, not even once as he makes a break for the forest. He stumbles through the trees, trying not to make the path too easy just in case any zombies manage to follow after him. He runs down from the mountains, letting gravity aid in his speed. He doesn’t stop until he reaches the river, nearly completely out of breath by the time he reaches it. He slows his pace and looks back into the forest. The sun is soon to be rising, meaning it’s not pitch black out and he can see reasonably far back up the hill. He can’t see any zombies. He swallows in gulps of air and turns to continues on his way. He won’t be safe until he’s so far away he won’t be able to even see the establishment.

He keeps at a steady jog, trying to conserve his energy now that he’s not in immediate danger. He travels for hours until the sun has risen, and the golden glow lights up the trees around him. He continues walking until he reaches the edge of the forest, and then some more. He travels until he reaches the edge of more trees, only then does he look back again. He’s exhausted, he hasn’t eaten anything, and he has little water on him. He needs to eat to keep up his energy otherwise he won’t make it much further and he needs to rest properly for at least half an hour. His gut churns. Jason was still back there, somewhere. Tim fears he’s dead, but there’s nothing he ever could have done to help Jason. He pushes the thought away and continues slowly into the forest, keeping alert.

It takes him nearly another hour before he lets himself finally stop. He doesn’t know where he is, but he knows that reaching the bottom of the mountains will help him in locating somewhere to go, but for now he needs to give his aching legs a rest. He finds a fallen tree, one that’s old enough to have some overgrown foliage covering it up somewhat. Tim sits himself down in the little alcove the fallen log provides and curls in on himself, he closes his eyes and tries to push the thoughts of Jason from his mind. He lays down and tries to clear his head.

He accidentally dozes off and is startled awake by the sound of footfalls nearby. He sits up suddenly and holds his breath. They’re approaching him and he instantly draws his sword out. There’s only one set of footsteps and Tim listens as they get closer and closer. He swallows thickly, closing his eyes to steady his breathing. He notices that the footfalls are sluggish and whoever it is, stumbles a bit. He readies himself and as soon as they’re close enough he pushes himself from his spot and takes a stance, ready to swing his sword out-

“Tim!” Jason cries out, holding his hand up in surrender. Relief floods over Tim and he drops his sword and rushes at Jason. He throws his arms around Jason’s neck and hugs him close, uncaring of the blood caking Jason’s body, uncaring that Jason’s unstable and has the urge to rip him to pieces. Uncaring because Jason was  _ here _ .

“Oh my God, you’re okay. Jason fuck.” Tim breaths out heavily, able to calm the racing of his heart. He pulls back and stares up at Jason, cupping his bloodstained cheeks in his hands. “How’d you find me?”

“I followed your scent,” Jason admits, dropping his gaze. “I’d recognise it anywhere.”

Tim lets out a small chuckle and drops his eyes down Jason’s body, looking him over. Jason’s side is torn open, his hand pressed into the wound as it oozes blood. Tim’s stomach drops.

“Oh God, Jay-” Tim tries to reach out for the wound but Jason steps back and shakes his head.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Jason… zombies don’t usually heal; their body tissue is fucked, and their cells don’t function.”

“Tim, relax. You’re wrong. I do heal. I don’t know if it’s because of the pit, but believe it or not, this was a lot worse before.” Jason chuckles slightly. Tim swallows thickly and looks up to Jason’s face. Jason offers him a soft smile and steps forward again, lifting his other hand. He freezes when he remembers he’s coated in blood. “I’ll be fine.”

“There’s a river not too far from here, we’ll get you cleaned up and make sure you actually are healing.” Tim offers. He holds out his hand and after a second of hesitation, Jason reaches out and locks their fingers together. They walk in silence, Tim keeping to a slower pace as not to push Jason too hard with a wound like that.

The river is only a few minutes walk away and Tim ushers Jason into the slow flow of it. Jason doesn’t hesitate to start cleaning himself off, washing away all of the blood on his body. Tim cleans off his hands and any large amounts of blood on his front from hugging Jason. By the time they’re both cleaned off, and Jason’s even rinsed out his mouth, he shows his side to Tim, revealing the wound to be mostly healed up.

“See? I’m fine.” Jason shrugs. Tim slowly reaches out and lightly presses his fingers to Jason’s pale skin beside the closing wound. Tim swallows thickly and lifts his gaze again. Jason offers him a smile.

“What happened back there?” Tim asks. Jason sighs and clicks his tongue, moving out of the river and standing himself in an area where the sun is coming through the trees to help dry off his body.

“I couldn’t let any of them go after you, you never would have outrun them. I did what I had to.”

“You killed them?” Tim asks as he joins Jason in the ray of sun, relieved for the warmth it brings.

“Most of them.” Jason sighs. “I couldn’t fight them all off, they’re strong but there’s no strategy to their fighting. They’re like animals, just wild and out of control when they fight. They ended up attacking each other, killing themselves so I didn’t have to kill them all.”

“And Talia?” Tim asks. Jason shrugs.

“She must have taken off in the chaos, I didn’t go looking for her and I only followed after you once I knew for sure she wasn’t following me.”

Tim nods and lets out a soft sigh. He steps up to Jason and rests his hands against his chest. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah… we can’t stay here though.” Jason reminds him. Tim nods.

"I'm sorry for stabbing you." He says and Jason gives a small shrug.

"You did what you had to do."

Tim sighs and looks back up at Jason with a soft smile. He leans in, but Jason turns his head away and makes a noise of protest. “You won’t hurt me, Jason.”

“I know, even though you smell so fucking good. But I uh… I was biting people before so y’know, that’s kind of nasty.” Jason offers, cringing slightly. Tim scoffs and cups his face in one hand while he tangles the fingers of his other hand in the back of Jason’s hair.

“You’re a zombie Jason, that’s hardly the nastiest thing about this,” Tim mentions, raising an eyebrow. Jason stares at him for a moment before a smile fights its way across his lips.

“I’m sorry, about what happened between us,” Jason says as he wraps his arms around Tim’s waist. Tim shrugs.

“I get it, Jason. I’m not mad.” Tim assures. Jason closes his eyes and rests his forehead against Tim’s.

“This is still fucked up.” Jason states.

“I can live with that.” Tim whispers before he tilts his head and kisses Jason.

Jason smiles into it, tilting his head as he holds Tim closer against his body. Tim clutches to him tighter and pushes himself harder against Jason’s body as he lets the zombie deepen the kiss. They had a long way to go and a lot to work out, but at least they were okay, and as alive as they could be.

**Author's Note:**

> [Check out my Tumblr](http://bloodthirstymerc.tumblr.com/about_merc) for more of me and earlier updates! It'd mean the world to me and would really help me out.


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